The prior art has included various ultrasonically vibrated surgical and ablative instruments for treating obstructive disorders of blood vessels and other anatomical passageways or cavities.
The prior art devices which, purportedly utilize ultrasonic energy, alone or in conjunction with other treatment modalities, to treat obstructions within blood vessels or other anatomical structures of the body include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,226 (Boyd), U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,717 (Pohlman, et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,153 (Parisi), U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,281 (Stasz), U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,062 (Kuris), U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,863 (Sterzer), U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,953 (Don Michael, et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,954 (Alliger, et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,423 (Fearnot), U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,700 (Broadwin), U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,294 (Vasilevsky), U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,448 (Wuchinich), U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,902 (Wuchinich), U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,332 (Fischell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,153 (Parisi), U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,023 (Murphy-Chutorian), U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,141 (Nakada), U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,953 (Don Michael), U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,033 (Seitz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,061 (Fischell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,902 (Wuchinich), U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,281 (Stasz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,581 (Wiksell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,588 (Kubota), U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,570 (Idemoto), U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,664 (Guess), U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,319 (Unger), U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,084 (Khek), U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,723 (Kubota), U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,143 (Bocquett), U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,421 (Bernstein), U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,433 (Kagawa), as well as foreign publications nos. WO87-05739 (Cooper), WO89-06515 (Bernstein, et al.), WO90-0130 (Sonic Needle Corp.), EP316789 (Don Michael, et al.), DE3,821,836 (Schubert), DE2,438,648 (Pohlman), GB 1,531,659 (Gekhman, et al.), EP 342448 (Bakelite), EP 293472 (Bakelite), and EP 209468 (Sarl).
Although the prior art has included numerous devices for ultrasonic treatment of intracorporeal obstructions, there remains a need in the art for the development of new and improved ultrasonic devices having improved or differing capabilities for specific blood vessels or regions of the body, such as the intracranial and extracranial vessels of the cerebral vasculature and/or the tubes and ducts of the genitourinary tracts of the male and female.